A day one patch is nothing new for a modern video game, but it appears that Nintendo is getting even more of a head start on tweaking New Pokemon Snap ahead of its imminent release. The upcoming game's first update is already live and available for download, for anyone who doesn't want to waste a second longer than necessary to start snapping Poke-pics when the game releases on Friday.
The patch updates the game to version 1.1 and will be required to access New Pokemon Snap's online features, which at the moment appear to be primarily based around uploading and sharing any favorite photos to show them off to friends. The update is only 125MB in size and will be downloaded automatically for anyone who has the game preloaded on their Switch, though anyone picking up a physical copy of it will need to make sure they download it before jumping in, as it's not included on the physical cartridge.
It's a small update, but one that looks pretty necessary for anyone looking to take their artfully-posed photographs online. New Pokemon Snap's online features look as though they'll extend beyond merely sharing with friends, as well: popular pics could find their way to an even larger audience as part of a developer-selected showcase, and there have been rumblings about the possibility of online leaderboards where players can compare the scores they receive from the game's resident Pokemon Prof, Professor Mirror.
The follow-up to 1999's Pokemon Snap has been hotly anticipated for over 20 years now, and clearly the road to the new game's release hasn't always been an easy one. Earlier this week, New Pokemon Snap's director Haruki Suzaki recalled previous attempts to reboot the game which never came to fruition, hypothesizing that the drastic shift in the technology of both video games and photography in the intervening years might have had a significant effect on the game's delay.
Indeed, New Pokemon Snap seems to have finally come at a perfect time in many ways. With the prevalence of social media and photo apps like Instagram, the game's focus on photography and its proposed suite of photo-editing tools seem perfectly suited to the zeitgeist of the early 2020s, especially with the social features that the 1.1 update will bring online. On top of that, tie-in events with games like Pokemon GO are likely to bring even more players into the fold.
In a month with numerous big releases coming out, it might seem like New Pokemon Snap could struggle to hold its own, but there's an undeniable charm to the game that will endear it to plenty of gamers. With the weather perking up and the general population's thoughts turning to summer, a bombastic, colorful outing in the Lental region could be exactly what the Pokemon Professor ordered.
New Pokemon Snap launches on April 30 for the Nintendo Switch.
Source: Serebii.net
